Who decides? (A lack of) changes in interest group influence over the EU’s normative ambitions in trade agreements
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2024-09-04
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en
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This thesis examined how the relative influence of civil society organisations and business interests on the outcome of trade negotiations has changed over time. It considered the influence these actors can exert through both the European Parliament and the Commission. The expectation was that, due to the increased institutional powers of the European Parliament following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the revised orientation of the Commission in response to the politicisation of CETA and TTIP, civil society organisations would have experienced a greater increase in influence than business interests, even in the absence of politicisation. Using process-tracing methods, the influence of these two types of interest was compared for two trade agreements negotiated by the EU with Mexico, signed in 1997 and 2018. In these trade agreements, the provisions on human, labour and environmental rights were analysed. There was little evidence of business mobilisation on these issues, while civil society organisations mobilised more, but were largely unsuccessful. Contrary to what was expected, this paper found no relative increase in civil society influence through either the Commission or the European Parliament.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen